LONDON, June 15. /TASS/: The Russian embassy in London said it was alarmed by media reports about the Defense Ministry’s plans to shift the focus of its special forces to " dangerous international behavior" by other states, including Russia.
"Such reports are alarming. Of course, it’s hard for us to say how reliable this information is and how it corresponds with real tasks of the UK armed forces. However, if it is true, this decision appears to be, firstly, erroneous and, secondly, questionable as far as London’s compliance with its international obligations is concerned," the embassy said, calling upon the Foreign Office and the Defense Ministry to clarify those reports publicly and officially.
"In fact, this would mean that UK defense agencies are paving the way for removing the existing restrictions imposed by the international law and to claim the right to carry out military operations beyond the limits of self-defense, which constitutes a direct breach of the UN Charter," the embassy said. "This would not just become a yet another step towards deliberately destroying the world order based on the international law, but also create major risks of those ‘hybrid’ operations evolving into full-fledged armed conflicts as a result of various coincidences and misunderstandings."
BBC reported on Thursday that, according to a plan which is now under discussion, the three main elements of the UK's Special Forces (the regular Special Air Service regiment (22 SAS), the Special Boat Service (SBS), and Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR)) will shift away from traditional counter-terrorism missions to confronting "dangerous international behavior by peer adversaries.".
